Central Somerville Avenue

The Mayor’s Office of Strategic Planning & Community Development (OSPCD) has been studying ways to strengthen two of our most valuable industry clusters: artists/makers and climatetech. With the zoning overhaul in 2019, the Fabrication District zoning was created to ensure that older, formerly industrial buildings and spaces (teaming with artists, makers, and climatetech innovators) could avoid being redeveloped into luxury housing or laboratory buildings, allowing our valuable industry clusters to grow. This tool is innovative but isn't perfect and we have learned some lessons since the release of the MAPC Somerville Arts Space Risk Assessment in 2021.

At sites in the Central Somerville Avenue Area, the climatetech industry is growing fast and may have the unintended consequence of crowding out the artists/maker industry. The owners of the Ames Complex (now known as SomerNova) suggested a solution: rezone their property and surrounding properties to allow bigger and taller buildings that would accommodate growing climatetech firms but also reserve spaces for artists/makers. The owners have been working with community stakeholders over the past few years to try to strike the right balance between business growth, while preserving spaces for artists. We think that the landowners, the neighborhood stakeholders, and the city are close to striking the right balance about the size and scale of new development and are working to do this in a way that also can provide more protection for artists/makers city-wide.

These are complicated and interwoven issues so these concerns cannot be addressed with one solution.

Therefore, we have a Five Point Plan:

Step one is to address definitions in the zoning ordinance related to the Arts & Creative Enterprise (ACE) uses and some Commercial uses – specifically Laboratory (Lab). The Somerville Arts Council and Somerville artists have helped Planning, Preservation, & Zoning (PPZ) craft this language for the City Council. The amendments are intended to clarify distinction between shared artistic studios and co-working office spaces, as one example. These zoning amendments have been submitted and can be found at ACE and Labs.

The second step is to create a research & development district around the innovative businesses and start-up companies at the Greentown Labs complex and The Engine. Mayor Ballantyne has stressed how important the climatetech companies are for the city moving forward. Clean green energy is considered critical for mitigating some of the impacts of climate change and a large part of how we can achieve our goals of SomerVision and Climate Forward. This work is underway with a working group of stakeholders in the Central Somerville Avenue Area and will be submitted to the City Council for review shortly.

These first two steps, once approved, will have the effect of splitting up the Fabrication zoning district into two distinct districts: an improved Fabrication district that more strongly supports the growth of artists and makers, and a new research & development district that facilitates the growth of the climatetech industry.

Steps 3, 4, & 5 are where we need your help.

Along with the important businesses mentioned, the study area is home to historical assets, formerly American Tubeworks and Ames Envelope, which should be protected as buildings that can be adaptively re-used. We need to come together to ensure that any development meets the goals of the city as stated in the comprehensive plan, is contextual and appropriate to the surrounding neighborhood, and is supportive of the occupants or tenants of those spaces. That may sound slightly intimidating as a work effort, but we are planning a series of meetings and workshops to study this together.

The evening of Monday October 28th will be the kick-off meeting to make sure we all understand the base information and the terminology that can sometimes be technical as we discuss zoning and land use regulations. We’ll discuss the reasons the text amendments around the ACE and Lab uses were necessary, walk-through the draft language together, and discuss the elements of a research & development district. There will be plenty of time for questions and discussion.

In early November, we will host a few topic-based workshops. These will be hands-on dig-into-the-details discussions so we can hopefully reach consensus on the elements required to craft an overlay zone. While we’re refining the details and logistics, the topics are anticipated to cover civic space, buildings, land use, infrastructure, and zoning issues. Not everyone needs to be there the entire time as there will be a schedule of the specialized topic conversations so the right people can be at the table to discuss a particular issue. Anyone who can attend all the sessions is encouraged and welcomed.

Then at the beginning of December there will be a meeting to review the draft documents that were generated in the workshops. This one will likely a bit tedious for those who don’t enjoy the technicality of zoning writing, but we’ll make as fun as possible so we encourage all who have interest in the area and/or have participated in the workshops to come and see the outcomes of the hard work and provide additional comments for final refinements.

Even after this series of meetings is over, there will still be opportunity to participate and provide input as the documents are before the City Council and the Planning Board for adoption.

We will be posting information on this page regularly as the logistics and details for these events are resolved. The meetings will hybrid for remote and in-person participation, the meetings will also be recorded and shared for those who are interested but may not be able to attend, and the draft documents will be uploaded as the work progresses. Please check back frequently for the latest information. We look forward to working together.

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